Zilas
Male

Place of Origin: Orion (Spaceborn)

Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 175 lbs.
Hair Color: None
Eye Color: Black

Zilas, while bearing the telltale green skin and bald head of his race, is much shorter and less bulky than is usual amongst Orion males. A series of scars are visible on the back of his scalp and continue down his neck (indeed, all the way down his back) from the hasty removal of his brandings when he was younger.

Overall, Zilas is a hard-working individual who, when he sets his mind to a task, sees it through to completion though often leaving himself overworked from always accepting any task given to him. Because of his past (indeed, his people’s culture), he has a strong view against slavery and unfair servitude.

Zilas was born into the society of Orion as a male, making him a slave from birth. Unlike most other male Orions, he was born sick and weakly, barely surviving the first year of his life. This left him relatively low in the pecking order, even among the slaves, all of whom made his life a living hell. His smaller stature, however, suited him well to fitting into smaller places to conduct sensitive work which lead to him being trained in a number of technical tasks.

His childhood was mostly filled with forced work and poor treatment, including brands tattooed into his skin to properly mark him as property. After a particular harsh beating from his supervisor for failing to complete a task in time, he stowed away aboard a freighter that was docked at the facility he was “assigned” to. The eight-year old managed to stay hidden for nearly four weeks before he was finally discovered by the ship’s captain; although the captain at first threatened to return him to Orion, Zilas eventually convinced the alien to allow him to stay aboard and work for food and board. Though his tasks hadn’t gotten much better, he had managed to escape the worst of his old life.

In 2384, at fourteen, Zilas had his first encounter with Starfleet when the freighter was heavily damaged after being struck by space debris while stopped for repairs after an encounter with raiders. A Federation starship, the Ulysses, provided assistance with repairs and medical needs. Awed by the Ulysses and its crew, the Orion asked the crew working with him about joining; although he was saddened to hear that as a non-member of the Federation he would be unable to apply without a letter of reference, Zilas was surprised when the chief engineer of the Ulysses, impressed with the young Orion’s work, requested the Ulysses’ captain provide a recommendation. With that in hand, Zilas was able to apply.

Although he failed to score sufficiently high to be accepted, Zilas scored high enough on the preparatory exams to be permitted to attempt them again the following year, at which point he was, finally, accepted into Starfleet Academy for the next school year. Finally, at the age of seventeen, he finally entered the Academy and began his training that would, one day, see him serve on a vessel like the Ulysses…